Tape perforator



R. G. SCHULER TAPE PERFORATOR A Dec. 21, 1948.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 22, 1946 INVENTOR REGINALD G. SCHULER 4 ATTORNEY Dec. 21, 1948. sc u 2,456,740

' TAPE PERFORATOR Filed June 22, L946 2 Shets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR REGINALD s. SOHULEIR ATTORNE Patented Dec. 21, 1948 U N D S'rT ATZEYS. PATENT O F F [C E TAPE 'PERFORATORF poration .of Delaware Application June 22, 1946, Serial No. 678,572 4 6 Claims. (Cl. 17-8-92)- This. invention relates toprinting telegraph apparatus-and particularly to a tape -reperforator designed ;for high speed-l operation.

The..-primary object" of this invention is the provision of a tape reperforator which is intended to meet high speed-telegraph communication requirements withoutloss of accuracy or reliability.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a high speedreperforator in which longer time intervals. -are allotted for performing the various functions associated with tape perforating operationsand thus enables. efficient operation at higher speeds.

In achieving the objects of .thepresent invention it is proposed-to provide. av signal overlap arrangement wherein successive signal code combination impulses received by a receiver distributor. are alternately allocated to each of two sets of storage relays which transfer thesignal. code combinations to associatedsets of .punch selectormagnets.- Each .set .of punch selector magnets controls anassociated set of .punch interponents in amanner, whichpermits apreviously conditioned setof interponents to be used for a perforating operationwhile the other set of punch. interponents isbeing conditioned for the immediately. succeeding perforatingoperation. Tape perforation is accomplished by a pair of punch bails which are timed to operate alternately upon their associated sets .of punch interponents.

The receiver distributor is driven athalf of .the speed of a cam sleeve to which it is geared and upon which is. mounted the various operating cams essential to the present invention. One cam controls a set of swinger contacts which it causes. inone half of its revolution to be associated with one set of storage relays and in the other half of its revolution to be associated with the other set of storage relays. A second cam alternately controls the locking circuits for the storage relays. Another cam is provided for the alternate. operation of the punch'bails referred to. above while an additional cam is provided which" stepsthe tape forward two positions 'forreach complete revolution of the cam sleeve after each ofthe punch "bails has punched its row of perforations in the tape;

The. invention'maybe more readily understood j byreference to thedetailed description which follows when read in connection with the draw-- ings in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic circuit illustration for controlling the tape reperforator;

Fig. 2 is .an exploded perspective viewof the. tape reperforator; and

Fig- 3 is an enlarged detail view of the cam assembly shown in Fig. 2;

In -commencing-adetailed description of the present inventionitshould be mentioned that the useofnthe Well known- Baudot code in a start-stop system ottelegraphy is herein contemplated. IrrFi-g. 1 is shown: atransmitter II which may be located either at a distance or at the same station as the tape reperforator and is connected bymeansofiline l2 with a-receiver distributor l3, which is-.of..the-;type. disclosed in the patent of H...L. Krum; No. 1,595,472, dated August 10, 1926, to maintain in itherest condition of the apparatus a.-marking -or-;energized condition of a selector magnet l4.

Thetape reperforator disclosed in Fig. 2 is provided-with aha-lf revolution clutch of the friction type; Thed-riv-ing portion of the clutch assembly includesa-constantly rotating shaft 85, a disc l6 which is-locked thereto and a disc ll formed-as anintegral part of a collar l8 which iskeyed to shaft -i5..andurged to the right by means of. .a- .compressicn spring 9. The driven part .of the clutch assembly comprises a cam sleeve-.2 l prov-ided at one end with a fixed disc 22 and at. its other end with-afixed disc .23 having diametrically .oppositestop lugs 2t designed to cooperate with the hooked extension 25 of armature .26,-which is controlled by selector magnet l4. Friction washersii, .andZB of felt. material are interposed.respectively between discs 22 and 2"! anddiscs I1. and .23..

Upon the receipt of a start or spacing impulse byselector magnetld, armature 28 will pivot about rod 29. in a clockwise direction under the influence-oi ,spring3l. This results in the re movalof hookedextension25 of armature 26 from blockingengagement with one of the stop lugs 24 of. disc 23rand theconsequent release of camsleeve. 21..., Since driving shaft 32 which operates;the.. receiver distributor I3 is rotatable at only halithe speedof cam sleeve 2! due to the gearingreffectedebetween shaft 32 and cam sleeve 2 [by gears 33 and 34, upon the receipt of I a stopor marking impulse by selector magnet M at, the termination of an individual signal code combination, the other stop lug-24 will be encountered-byhooked extensionZE of armature 25 and rotarymotion of, cam.-sleeve 2| will be arrested.

Ascamsleeve '2!- is released during its first half revolution,.-the highpart of cam 35 moves against follower36 'overcomingthe influence of its spring 31 and spring 30, thereby shifting switch 38 to its,.leftwardqpositionr Switch38il ig. 1) carries a,-;-set;.o fi five swinger, contacts 139; which move to the left with switch 38 under the above described condition, thereby closing contacts 4| and providing an energizing circuit for storage relays 42 extending from the receiver distributor l3 over conductors 43, through contacts 4!, over conductors 44 and through the windings of storage relays 42. Of course, only those relays 42 which are receiving marking impulses at this time will be energized.

During the next half revolution of cam sleeve 2| follower 36 will move to the low part of cam 35, allowing swinger contacts 39 to close contacts 45 as switch 38 moves to the right under the influence of spring 36. This results in the provision of energizing circuits for storage relays 46 extending from the receiver distributor l3, over conductors 43, through contacts 45 and over conductors 41.

When selected storage relays 42 are energized, locking circuits therefor are provided as follows: From ground, through the windings of relays 42, through attracted armature 48, over conductor 49 and through closed contact i controlled by cam 52 to battery. Similarly, locking circuits for storage relays 46 are provided extending from ground, through the windings of storage relays 46, through attracted armatures 53, over conductor 54 and through closed contact 55 controlled by cam 52 to battery. I

As armatures 56 of storage relays 42ers attracted the selection established in storage relays 42 is transferred to punch selector magnets 51, thereby positioning punch interponents 58 pivotally articulated to armatures 59 of magnets 5'! (Fig. 2) either to a marking or spacing position. A marking position represents an energized condition of punch selector magnets 51 with the free ends of the interponents positioned below punch pins 6! supported by the punch block 62. On the other hand a spacing position represents a de-energized condition of punch selector magnets 57 with the free ends of punch interponents retained out of the path of punch pins due to the action of spring 63. Attraction of armatures 64 by storage relays 46 transfers a received selection to punch selector magnets 65 thereby selectively positioning interponents 66 with respect to punch pins 6! as was described in connection with the punch selector magnets 5'1.

For perforating tape 68 a pair of punch bails 69, ll operable by punch cam 12 carried by cam sleeve 2! are provided. Follower arm 13 of punch bail 65 is biased into engagement with cam 72 by means of a spring 14 and together with a spaced lever 15 is pivoted about rod 16. Follower l3 integrally joins with an upstanding arm 11 which at its upper end supports together with lever 75 a striking bar 18 designed to actuate, through interponents 58, selected punch pins 6|, which are normally urged downward by springs l9, to efiect a signal code perforation in the tape 68 as the low part of cam 12 is encountered by follower arm 13. Likewise, when follower arm 8! of punch bail H encounters the lowpart of cam i2, striking bar 82 of punch bail 1| is effective, through interponents 66, to actuate selected punch pins 61 to effect the perforation of a signal code combination in tape 68.

Since two rows of perforations are punched in tape 68 upon one complete revolution of cam sleeve 2 I, a tape feed cam 83 is provided to operate lever 84 about pivot 65 to thereby obtain a double stepping action of pawl 85 to which it is pivotally articulated. Pawl 85 is urged, by means of a spring 81, into contact with the teeth of a ratchet 86 which is fixed to one end of shaft 88 which at its other end has secured thereto a tape feed wheel 9!. This double spacing action is due to the fact that the number of pins 89 on feed wheel 9| is double the number of teeth provided on ratchet 86. It is obvious then that on each operation of stepping pawl the tape will be fed forward two positions.

In order to facilitate a ready understanding of the invention a typical double perforating operation will now be described. It will be assumed for the sake of the description that cam sleeve 2| has been released by the receipt of a start impulse by selector magnet l4 and that the high part of cam 52 has previously opened the contact pair 55 toward the latter part of the last half revolution of cam 52 and thereby erased a pre vious selection existing in storage relays 42 and punch magnets 5! and closed again to receive the next selection from the receiver distributor 13 as cam 35 now operates to move switch 38 to its leftward position. While thisnext selection is being set up in the magnets 51, the selection previously stored in punch magnets 65 is utilized by the operation of punch bail H when the low part of cam 12 is encountered by follower BI. Towards the end of this first half revolution of cam 52 after operation of punch bail 7|, contact pair 55 will be opened erasing the previously existing selection from punch magnets 65 and closing again to enable the magnets 65 to acquire its next selection. 7

Towards the end of the first half revolution of cam 52 after punch bail 'H' has operated, stepping pawl 85 starts to operate to step thetape 68 forward two position-s which operation maybe completed during the interval existing between the No. 5 element or" the preceding code combi nation and the No. 1 element of the succeeding code combination, or more specifically during the stop-start intervals.

Upon receipt of the stop impulse by the receiver distributor l3, hooked extension 25 of armature 26 will now engage the other stop lug 24 of disc 23 after a half revolution of cam sleeve 2|. It will be remembered that a signal combination is now stored by the punch magnets 51. When the next spacing impulse is received by selector magnet 14, cam sleeve 2| will be released for another operation during which time the selection stored by punch magnets 5'! is utilized by the operation of punch bail 69 by cam 12. Towards the end of this half revolution, contacts 5i will again open as previously described. Meanwhile, the low part of cam 35 has been encountered by follower 36 and switch 38 has moved to the right to enable punch magnets 65 to store its next selection.

It is understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the present invention without a departure from its spirit and scope which should not be limited by the specific disclosure contained herein. 7

.What is claimed is:

1. In combination, means to receive signal code combinations and a perforator including a tape to be perforated, a plurality of sets of punch instrumentalities successively conditionable by said means, a-punch operator for each of said sets of punch instrumentalities, means for successively actuating said punch operators to-successively punch rows of perforations in said tape, and means to periodically feed said tapea number of positions equivalent to the number of rows I by saidpunch operaof perforations punched tors.

2.- In combination, a receiver distributor and aperforator including a tape to be perforated, a plurality of sets of punch magnets, a set of punch interponents controlled by each of said sets of punch magnets, means to successively store signals received by said receiver distributor in each set of said punch magnets, a plurality of punch bails, one for each set of said sets of punch interponents, means for successively operating said punch bails to successively punch rows of perforations in said tape, and means to periodically feed said tape a number of positions equivalent to the number of rows of perforations punched by said punch bails.

3. In combination, means to receive signal code combinations including a signal distributing means and a perforator including a tape to be perforated, a pair of sets of punch instrumentalities alternately conditionable by said signal distributing means, a punch operator for one of said sets of punch instrumentalities, a punch operator for the other of said sets of punch instrumentalities, means to feed said tape two positions in each operation, and means for alternately operating said punch operators to successively punch rows of perforations in said tape, whereby one of said punch operators is actuated while the said punch instrumentalities associated with the other of said punch operators are being conditioned.

4. In combination, a receiver distributor and a perforator including a tape to be perforated, a pair of sets of punch selector magnets, means to store successive signal code combinations received by said receiver distributor in alternate sets of said punch selector magnets, a pair of sets of punch interponents, one of said sets of punch interponents conditioned by one of said sets of punch selector magnets, the other of said sets of punch interponents conditioned by the other of said sets of punch selector magnets, a pair of punch bails, one for operating one set of said sets of punch interponents, the other for operating the other set of said sets of punch interponents, means to feed said tape two positions at a time, and means for alternately operating said punch balls to successively punch rows of perforations in said tape, whereby one of said punch bails is operable while the set of interponents associated with the other punch bail is being conditioned.

5. In combination, a receiver distributor and a perforator including a tape to be perforated, a

pair of sets of punch selector magnets, a set of storage relays associated with one set of said punch selector magnets, another set of storage relays associated with the other set of punch selector magnets, said sets of storage relays each being adapted to receive alternate signal code combinations and transfer them to the associated set of punch selector magnets, a pair of sets of punch interponents, one of said sets of punch interponents conditioned by one of said sets of punch selector magnets, the other of said sets of punch interponents conditioned by the other of said sets of punch selector magnets, a pair of punch bails, one for operating one set of said sets of punch interponents, the other for operating the other set of said sets of punch interponents, means to feed said tape two positions at a time, and means for alternately operating said punch bails to cause the punching of successive rows of perforations in said tape, whereby one of said punch bails is operable while the set of interponents associated with the other punch bail is being conditioned.

6. In a tape perforating apparatus, a punch block, a plurality of sets of punches mounted in said punch block, each of said sets of punches adapted to punch a row of perforations in a tape, an individual set of punch interponents associated with each of said sets of punches, a plurality of sets of punch selector magnets, each of said sets of punch selector magnets being associated with and adapted to condition one of said sets of punch interponents, a plurality of punch bails wherein each punch bail is associated With one of said sets of punch interponents, and means for successively operating each of said punch bails, whereby one of said punch bails is operated to engage its associated set of punch interponents to cause the set of punches associated therewith to punch a row of perforations in the tape simultaneously with the conditioning of another set of said punch interponents by its associated set of punch selector magnets.

REGINALD G. SCHULER.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Potts June 29, 1937 Number 

